Azul stepped forward. {Are you done with your secret chat?}

Howard turned back to her. {We are.}

{Would you like to eat or talk first?} Azul asked.

{Eat,} Selina said at the same time as James said {Talk.} They both looked to Howard to break the tie.

{I want to hear what she went through all that trouble to bring us here was about,” Howard decided. Personally, he was still suspicious of the food.

Azul took a seat and looked at each of them. {I am sure you have noticed the color of my eyes by now.}

{Definitely,} James told her.

{Let me tell you my experience with what is known as the Bloodcry,} Azul began, {This is not just a story about me. There was an Outsider involved as well.}

James tensed, even more on guard knowing they might be involved because of some other outsider’s foolishness. Howard was also wary but if she wanted to hurt them he doubted she would be sitting there talking about it.

{Before my sister started her own colony we lived in the mountains in the colony of a prominent Sage. Both of us were born with light hair only a few hundred years apart. The Sage of that colony did not take it well. Most Sages have to work for hundreds of years to gather enough knowledge to obtain Wisdom. Being born that way was unheard of, not that the different colonies communicate that often. We are far apart for a reason.}

Howard had a feeling he could see where this was going but did not interrupt.

{We grew up under the scorn of those around us, sometimes even our own parents. Our parents were often accused of faking our light-colored hair for attention and prestige and eventually abandoned us. Both my sister and I had a hard time finding work. No one dared employ us, and the Sage wanted nothing to do with us either. With light hair we were born rich. That was when the Outsider appeared.}

{When was this?} James questioned.

{This was about 180 years ago.}

James seemed relieved it had nothing to do with them and let her continue.

{He came just like you did. He was short with dark hair and could not communicate with us at all. When he was found he was starving and had almost been killed by the predators. I don’t know what the Sage thought would happen but this man came out of the ceremony with lavender hair. For some reason, he blamed us and forced us to take care of the Outsider and help him survive. He probably meant to punish us, but that man was one of the first people to actually treat us like people and not prodigies.}

{You seem to have fond memories of him,} Selina broke in with a smile.

Azul returned a bitter smile back. {I do but the story does not end so nicely. We were not always peaceful people, and that Sage became one because of his knowledge of battle strategy. When he discovered that the Outsider had become something like a brother to us he was furious and sent people after us, or tricked us into going to a monster den. He wanted us gone for good. Luckily the Outsider knew how to fight and he taught us as well. It seemed like everything would still be alright until that day.}

The sadness and fear carried through the story and her hands were trembling.

{I had wandered off alone and I was cornered by one of the Sage’s soldiers. They were much too strong for me to fight using normal means so I lashed out with Wisdom to defend myself. However, when someone takes life with Wisdom, they are cursed by the Bloodcry.}

Azul gestured to her eyes.

{I don’t understand why you called us here to tell us that unless you are concerned about Jonathan,} James said with a frown.

{No. The worst is yet to come. Ever since we had declared ourselves to be peaceful to stop all the fighting, the Bloodcry was seen as a serious curse and no one who had it could be allowed near the blessed waters of the fountains. The Sage may have participated in war but he had never used Wisdom to kill, much less get personally involved. He used my eyes as the reason to plant the final blow. I was exiled, the Outsider was sentenced to mental torment for causing an innocent child like me to kill, and my sister was forced to watch as his apprentice. As soon as she knew enough, Veda rescued the Outsider and created her own colony as far away as she could with what supplies she had. But when people arrived and saw my eyes it became the same thing again and I was forced to leave. Back then my sister did not know how much power a Sage could wield and now it is too late.}

{She seems so much older and wiser,} Selina muttered in surprise.

{You said the Outsider came here as well,} James broke in, {Is he still?}

{Yes. His name is Dorian, but in order to save his mind from torment, we had to make him forget everything, including his time with us.}

Howard thought about what Dorian had told him when they first met. For someone who had gone through such pain, he seemed fairly happy with life. It must be because he had forgotten.

{But what does this have to do with us?} Howard asked.

{You are planning on leaving to create your own colony, right?} Azul asked, {I would like you to take Dorian with you to prevent history from repeating itself.}